3 August 2021

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Tuesday, 3 August 2021 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord, speaking to us about the faith that all of us must have in Him, we are reminded that we should not allow our desires and the temptations of the flesh to distract us in our faith and in our way of believing in God. Otherwise, we may end up falling into sin, and ended up like what some of our predecessors had experienced.

In our first reading today, we heard the unfortunate occurrence when the brother and sister of Moses, Aaron and Miriam ended up in a sort of power struggle with Moses, as the two of them grumbled that Moses alone had the opportunity to speak with the Lord and to speak on behalf of all the Israelites and to deliver God’s truth and messages to them. Aaron and Miriam desired that they too could be the ones who spoke of God’s words and truth just like Moses. They did not want to remain in the shadows of Moses and desired influence and limelight.

It was mentioned then that Moses himself was a very unassuming and humble leader, who did not take much of a fuss of things, including these rivalries and the disagreements over who ought to lead the Israelites. To Moses, he served the Lord and did everything for the greater glory of God. And yet, as we heard, there were those who were displeased and unhappy with his leadership, including those who were closest to him, his own siblings no less.

Thus we heard how Aaron and Miriam sought for power and attempted to seize control, only to face God’s wrath as God reaffirmed before all that Moses was indeed His chosen one, and it was not man who chose for themselves to be worthy of God but rather God Who chose those who are considered as worthy. God punished Aaron and Miriam, and yet, Moses asked God to be merciful and to show clemency to his siblings. Indeed, you can really see why God chose Moses to be the leader of His people, for his great virtues, his humility and patience.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the account of the moment when the Lord came to His disciples as they were battered by great storm, by the waves and the wind in the middle of the raging waters, as He went to pray on His own and the disciples were in the boat. The Lord appeared before the disciples amidst the waves, and they were all afraid, thinking that they were seeing a ghost, only for the Lord to rebuke them and to tell them that it was truly Him that they had seen.

Then we heard how St. Peter asked the Lord that if it was really Him, then He would allow him to walk towards Him on the water. And St. Peter truly stepped out of the boat into the water, and walked on the water for a while before beginning to sink, when his fears of the wind and the waves made him to doubt and stumble. The Lord rescued St. Peter and while making comment on his doubt and lack of faith, reassured him and all the other disciples, that He was with them, and calmed the storm before them all.

What is then the significance of the readings that we have heard today, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is to remind us that God chose us among the nations, and called us all to be His disciples. And if we think that we have to be great and worthy, and are capable to be His disciples, or on the contrary that we feel that we are unworthy of Him then we have to remember that God did not call the worthy, and rather, He made worthy those whom He had called to follow Him.

As Christians, we are all called to follow in the footsteps of the faithful servants of God like Moses and the prophets, and to follow His Apostles and the other disciples, all those who have given and dedicated themselves to the cause of the Lord. Are we willing to commit ourselves to the Lord, brothers and sisters? Are we willing to dedicate our time and effort, giving our contributions to God and to our fellow men, to the very best of our abilities?

Let us all therefore reflect on these words from the Scripture and on what we have listened and received today, from the Lord. May the Lord be our guide and may He continue to strengthen us in our journey of life, that we may always be ever faithful to His commandments and obedient to His will. May God bless us all in our every efforts and endeavours, from now on, always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 August 2021 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 14 : 22-36

At that time, immediately, Jesus obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself, to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone.

Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it. At daybreak, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once, Jesus said to them, “Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!”

Peter answered, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus said to him, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?” As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God!”

They came ashore at Gennesaret. The local people recognised Jesus and spread the news throughout the region. So they brought to Him all the sick people, begging Him to let them touch just the hem of His cloak. All who touched it became perfectly well.

Alternative reading

Matthew 15 : 1-2, 10-14

At that time, some Pharisees, and teachers of the Law, who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus. And they said to Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? For they, they do not wash their hands before eating.”

Jesus then called the people to Him, and said to them, “Listen and understand : What enters into the mouth does not make a person unclean. What defiles a person is what comes out of his mouth.”

After a while the disciples gathered around Jesus and said, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended by what You said?” Jesus answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted. Pay no attention to them! They are blind, leading the blind. When a blind person leads another, the two will fall into a pit.”

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Tuesday, 3 August 2021 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 6bc-7, 12-13

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone, have I sinned.

What is evil in Your sight, I have done. You are right when You pass sentence; and blameless in Your judgement. For I have been guilt-ridden from birth; a sinner from my mother’s womb.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

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Tuesday, 3 August 2021 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Numbers 12 : 1-13

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married and they said, “Has YHVH only spoken through Moses? Has He not also spoken through us?” And YHVH heard.

Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than any man on the face of the earth. Yet suddenly YHVH said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.” The three of them came out.

YHVH came down in the pillar of cloud and, standing at the door of the Tent, called Aaron and Miriam. They both went out and He said, “Listen carefully to what I say, ‘If there is a prophet among you, I reveal Myself to him in a vision and I speak to him in a dream. It is not so for My servant, Moses, My trusted steward in all My household.'”

“‘To Him I speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles, and he sees the presence of YHVH. Why then did you not fear to speak against My servant, against Moses?'” YHVH became angry with them and He departed. The cloud moved away from above the Tent and Miriam was there white as snow with leprosy. Aaron turned towards Miriam and he saw that she was leprous.

And he said to Moses, “My lord, I beg you, do not charge us with this sin that we have foolishly committed. Let her not be like the stillborn whose flesh is half-eaten when it comes from its mother’s womb.”

Then Moses cried to YHVH, “Heal her, o God, I beg of You.”